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Jefferson says warmly, “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Purity?”
I swear Killian growls beside me, but I realize this is the best way to diffuse the growing antagonism with his father, so I drop Killian’s hand and smile warmly. “Of course.”
As the group disperses, Killian’s father shakes his head with amusement as he locks his eyes on mine. He nods and turns, disappearing into the crowd as Jefferson’s hand creeps around my waist.
“You are beautiful, Purity. Killian is a lucky man. Then again, he always did have a talent for making his own luck.”
“Does he?” I’m only half listening because my eyes are trained on the way Gina is flush against Killian’s body as she whispers something in his ear. His eyes are intense and his expression dark, and a shiver passes through me as I observe them.
Jefferson whispers, “You know Gina and Killian were lovers once.”
I stiffen as he chuckles softly. “She learned a lot from him. She is a tiger in the bedroom. He trained her well.”
I feel sick as I stare at the way her hand rests on the back of his neck, her fingers brushing over his skin with an intimacy that tells me Jefferson isn’t wrong. I swear my heart beats even faster as I watch my husband with a woman he was close to once upon a time.
It hurts.
I don’t know why, but it does, and Jefferson carries on regardless of how uncomfortable I am.
“I would congratulate you on your marriage, but we all know it won’t last.”
“Excuse me.” I pull back and stare at him in shock and he laughs. “He’s using you. It’s obvious. He does this. Takes what he needs from a woman and then casts them aside. In your case, he desires respectability. You are the epitome of that. His marriage creates the perfect smokescreen for his dirty trade that he keeps hidden behind the brilliance of Gold Hawk Enterprises.”
I am shaking as his words wash over me and stifle my senses.
He is wrong.
Killian is a good man.
I have no reason to doubt that, but then the dots connect and images of the cold side of him chill my blood. I can’t breathe as I notice him whisper in Gina’s ear and she gazes at him with a smoldering expression of desire.
Stepping away from Jefferson, I say coolly, “If you’ll excuse me, I need the restroom.”
Without waiting for his response, I stumble toward the nearest exit and find myself out in the cool night air on a terrace. I hear the music behind me, but it’s not sweet anymore. It’s serenading my misery as everything that has happened swirls around me like a deathly virus.
“Purity.” I turn and my heart drops when Miss. Sinclair steps out of the shadows and I gasp, “You!”
She laughs softly as she moves toward me, looking every inch the sophisticated woman who impressed me so much.
“You should have stayed where you were. At least it was obvious what you were there.”
Her voice slides over me like silk on broken glass as she stands by my side, admiring the view.
“You lied to me.” I sense the anger rising and she laughs as if I’m no consequence.
“I didn’t lie. I found you a job. At what point did I lie to you?”
“But they were going to–”
“What, Purity? They were going to provide you with a room, a job, and food to eat. You would have earned well from it, a pretty young girl like you. You should have thanked me, but then Killian ruined everything by keeping you all to himself.”
“He rescued me.” I say angrily and to my surprise, she turns, a gleam of amusement in her eyes.
“He didn’t rescue you, honey. He trapped you. Your marriage is a front to make him look good. He will use you, toss you aside and carry on doing what he does best which is ruining lives and souls.”
“He’s a good man.” I say, but my voice breaks and she grins.
“Is that what he told you? Ask yourself who owns the establishment I took you to. Who pockets the profits of prostitution in this town? Who supplies drugs that ruin lives and lavishes the profits on impressing his new wife? And who murders anyone who dares go against him? Your husband does. He is the cancer that is destroying our country and all the wealth you enjoy is at the cost of the innocent. You are a fool if you believe his lying words because he is only telling you what you want to hear.”
